My first leather case for my Galaxy S3 was very nice but impractical: answering or making a call was a hassle, as it opened laterally and was awkward to hold. I searched all of Amazon for a good design and came upon this and thought 'now, THAT's the way to design a case: have it open vertically'. But I also thought that at under ten dollars, it was probably junk. I ordered it anyway. Wow: I've been using this daily for three months now and have zero complaints; it works perfectly. The cover drops down in an instant when I receive a call (the photo is upside down: there is a rigid leather tab at the top that you pull and the front drops and hangs below the phone) and if I want to take the call or make a call I just flip the front cover against the back and all you see is the phone screen.

Very easy to use, slim fit (adds very little to the thickness of the phone despite being padded), durable, protects the screen with a suede-like fabric facing the screen, decent-looking pebbled leather (I would say great-looking but for the one flaw of the manufacturer stamping their stupid logo on the front cover: put it on the back, geniuses; the logo is different from - and bigger than - the one you see in the photos). Given how great the design is, I would pay much more for other leather finishes (WITHOUT a big logo on the front).

I have not experienced any instances where the phone comes out of the case or problems with the material connecting the two covers, as others have noted; I think they improved the fit and quality since the product was first launched.

As a dealer in books and antiques for many years, I've gone through many electronic scales. Some were awful, some were very good but didn't last, some had annoying aspects of operation. For the past several years I've owned several UltraShip and WeighMax scales, which have the same basic design features as this scale (detached display unit, etc.). However, the UltraShip/WeighMax brands are not durable and the newest UltraShips have an annoying auto-off function which can't be disabled: take more than a minute between packages and you have to wait through the power-up cycle (an annoying 15 seconds) to weigh another. But it's the durability factor that's most annoying: they work great for several months, then the scale bed starts getting stuck because of the cheap plastic parts used (there isn't free movement, thereby preventing an accurate measurement).

This Smart Weigh unit is a TANK compared to these other scales: the scale unit is as heavy-duty as you would ever imagine an economically-priced scale to be. While I've only used it for a few weeks, I cannot imagine it breaking down like the other brands. I was amazed at how heavy the box was when I received it. The LCD display unit is similarly rugged. Also, the function is perfect (tested with 500g and 1kg test weights) and it has none of the annoying drawbacks of the other scales I've had, such as the auto-off annoyance. Also, I like the convenient Hold function which freezes the current weight even after the package has been removed from the platform. An overall great scale.

As a Top 500 Reviewer, I never accept offers to review products. However, this offer appealed to me because of a present annoyance with one of the UltraShip scales I have. So, I received this unit at no cost but the review would be identical if I had paid for it.

I had big expectations for the new Basis tracker. The B1, the previous model, was very good in some aspects, seriously lacking in others. The hope that the Carbon Steel (aka 2014 or B2) would address those flaws and be the gold standard of trackers is, sadly, an unfulfilled one. A much better band than the B1, but that - and the better looks of the carbon steel bezel - are about it. Better paint job and a deluxe Italian leather steering wheel cover - same car.

I have been sort of at the forefront of tracker development for the past year or so, being one of the first to acquire the Fitbit Flex (at CES 2013), and have the highest-rated review for the Flex: Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband, Black. I very much like the way Basis is developing their tracker watches. Far superior to the bands from Fitbit, Jawbone, Nike, et al. Their focus on total integration (watch, pedometer/accelerometer, heart-rate monitor, calorie-burn count, etc.) is what sets them apart from their competitors.

But here's the "however": However, the Carbon Steel is simply not a success in that integration of sensors and data generation, for reasons set forth below. My bottom line advice is to wait for the next iteration of the Basis, or a more successful try from one of their competitors. If you can live with the flaws and shortcomings I point out and $200 is nothing to you, it's certainly not a terrible product and may be worth a try. Personally, I would wait. The technology is evolving quickly in this area.

Basis and Fitbit have a lot in common in their quest to create the perfect tracker: they both focus on high-tech aspects of tracker development but in implementing the cutting-edge technology, they either neglect or push to the side simpler technology users want and often need. For example, the sleep analysis feature of the Basis and Fitbit trackers: it's a gimmick of sorts as all it's doing is registering movement. No movement equals restful sleep, multiple movements in a time frame equal restless, etc. As someone who has had this ability since I acquired the original Flex at CES 2013, trust me, it's next to useless information unless you have a legitimate medical problem like sleep apnea. So, the Carbon Steel will "analyze" your sleep. Great. But it WON'T tell you something simple like the distance you walked or ran (yes, it does NOT have that capacity!)? Or simply show you your heart rate while you're exercising like a $25 Timex heart-rate watch will (yes, you can NOT see your heart rate WHILE you exercise, only in later analysis)?

The lack of distance calculation is just mind-boggling and I don't have a clue why it's absent. As for the heart-rate, Basis can at least give us the capacity to add an HR chest band so that we CAN actually see our heart rate (the Basis monitors your HR from your inside wrist - facing the back of the watch - so I imagine there's some problem acquiring real-time HR like a chest strap HRM can do). But millions of people NEED to see their heart rate, either to stay in a particular zone or, like me, to see that my HR doesn't go past a certain level for cardiovascular reasons. Don't market this touting its heart-rate monitor when it does NOT give a viewable heart rate. Basis thinks I'm going to wear ANOTHER HR watch that CAN show me my HR - AND wear the Carbon? Think again. Next time, try adding an option for an external HR strap. If a tiny app on my PHONE can do this (integrate a signal from a chest strap), I'm sure you can figure it out too, Basis. [Yes, I can run with my phone instead of a separate HRM watch but the whole point of the type of tracker watch Basis is trying to develop - and, yes, they ARE trying, don't get me wrong - is to NOT have to use separate devices.]

As I state in the title of the review, just be aware of what you're actually getting for your $200. For $75 you can buy a decent HR watch AND a decent pedometer and get SUPERIOR information about your exercise: you can see your heart rate, you can see your mileage, and much more (and you can feed the data into software for analysis). Basis will probably successfully integrate the high-tech AND the simple in the near future but I personally would not spend $200 on this. I would wait. If $200 is nothing to you, then fine: Basis is, in fact, far superior to Fitbit in many aspects, particularly in their effort to integrate heart-rate in the first place (which Fitbit ignores yet claims highly-accurate calorie burn counts - which is impossible without heart rate data).

Summer is about 5 months away (when people exercise most). The way trackers are being developed these days, I'm pretty sure there will be something superior to the Carbon Steel by then or a bit later. I would wait for something better.

-------RESPONSE TO MANUFACTURER'S COMMENT:

While I think this is a cordial and constructive comment, I think marketing people get too caught up in the talking points and nomenclature of a product (e.g., 'Advanced Sleep Analysis', 'Healthy Habits system', etc.) and tend to spin subjects, not address them directly. Though I can appreciate the fact that Basis puts more effort into sleep analysis than Fitbit, my essential point - having had an ability to do this with my Flex for nearly a year now - is that it is of low value other than to self-diagnose a medical condition like apnea. Okay, with the Basis you can analyze myriad sleep patterns. Great. Aside from apnea, etc., what are you going to DO with this information? Trust me, after a week, the novelty of being able to see how you sleep wears off. And wears off. Until you don't care anymore. But there are people who may see a less than ideal sleep analysis and decide that sleep aids (drugs) will help - and that is a slippery slope for sure.

My major complaint was the inability to see heart rate during exercise. Just to illustrate my point here, if some company made just two simple products, a heart-rate watch and a sleep analysis watch, which is going to sell better? The HRM will outsell the other by 30 to 1 or more. Polar, Timex and others have sold tens of millions of HRMs. Millions of people NEED to see their HR during exercise, millions more want to see it. Sleep analysis is 1/100th as needed, wanted, or useful. To be dismissive of this fact ("While other devices might provide users with ... heart rate tracking during exercise, we focus on data concerning other aspects of your health such as automatic sleep ... tracking"), is simply spin. You adequately addressed the complaint by saying that it was valid and that you would pass it along to R&D. Stop there, don't try to posture and make it seem like Basis is superior because it focuses on sleep instead of heart rate. The opposite is true: the average buyer may be initially intrigued by sleep analysis (hence a marketing dept.'s focus on it) but a viewable heart rate in a tracker watch is far more valuable. And that value continues for the life of their $200 watch, not dissipate after a few days like the novelty of sleep analysis.

UPDATE 2/21/2014: After months of speculation about what Apple's iWatch would be like, it's been revealed that it will be - by far - the world's most sophisticated fitness tracker. Google it to see the articles from the past few days (filter out older articles as they contain inaccurate speculation). And as the iWatch is close to being available, I reiterate my advice to wait rather than spend $200 on this Basis watch. Knowing Apple, however, $200 may seem cheap compared to what they'll want for the iWatch (maybe).

UPDATE 3/26/2014: Basis has been bought out by Intel (Basis had been shopping themselves around for months). And as Intel does not market consumer exercise products, they probably scooped up Basis to integrate the technologies Basis developed into their processors. In other words, don't be surprised if this is the last product Basis markets and that your online account disappears in the near future. Who knows, Intel may keep Basis alive; but I wouldn't bet on it.

This was my first attempt at using a small keyboard. I never use the number pad or media keys on my high-end Logitech keyboards, so I decided to try a small keyboard with one of my desktop PCs. Was pleasantly surprised with this. Not too small, every key that I need was in its regular place, comfortable to use; I liked it.

The one not-so-fatal but annoying flaw is that there is no beep for caps lock and because I was not used to the keyboard I was frequently hitting caps lock instead of shift. Without a beep you don't realize what you've done. Annoying, but I would get better at key strikes as I became more experienced I assumed.

However, I discovered a truly fatal flaw and it's rather crazy: try to log in, type your password, and hit Enter: "password incorrect". No, it has nothing to do with caps lock, Fn mode, or anything like that. Trust me, I tested everything; it's truly mind-boggling. The password-protected screensaver works fine: type password, hit enter, done. Log in from a start, restart or user change, IMPOSSIBLE (and it's the same screen as the screensaver unlock, in Windows). Thank God I had my Logitech wireless keyboard there as well; otherwise I would have been locked out. Not good. I'm not going to spend hours trying to figure out exactly what's wrong with this thing. In 25 years as a power user, I'd thought I'd seen everything. This is something else.

I usually watch recorded TV, movies, and listen to music in front of my large computer dual monitors and use Sennheiser earbuds (various models) for audio. I've done this for years. Love the Sennheiser earphones. Never was thrilled with Sennheiser headphones as they were always uncomfortable on my larger-than-average head; always too tight.

But I decided to try these 558's out. All I can say is, "wow!". Aside from the comfort (not only are they not tight, the plush velvet cushions surround your ears, not pressing up against them), the sound quality is just superb. I will leave it to others to explain the technical sound qualities. The clarity is stunning, almost ethereal: it seems like you're truly surrounded by sound (true "surround sound") rather than being cognizant of left/right movement between the two ears. Bass is perfect: not too strong, not too weak.

I tested these with all types of music and am amazed at the quality. I used the word 'ethereal' especially because of certain New Age tracks I played where it seemed I was floating in a cloud of sound. This may seem a bit hyperbolic but it isn't: these headphones are amazing (and I'm not easily impressed, having had Bang & Olufsen, Shure and other high-end headphones in the past).

Build quality seems quite good and I especially like the fact that there is no cord noise as there is on Sennheiser (and other maker) earphones and headphones (feedback from brushing the cord against clothing or other objects). For the money, these are nothing less than awesome headphones.

First, I'd like to take skeptics head-on: you may scoff at the subject matter but you probably have no real knowledge of it. You - we - are part of a primitive civilization and know next to nothing of the nature of existence. For hundreds of thousands of years man looked at birds in flight and dreamed of flying. There are people alive TODAY who were born before man could even figure THAT out, the relatively simple dynamics of flight. So, don't be so dismissive of what you don't understand and assume you 'know' what's possible and impossible. As Plato advised, 'a wise man knows he knows nothing.'

The fact is, this avenue of research is not antithetical to scientific research. Indeed, it cohesively follows the lines of the latest research in quantum mechanics. The double-slit experiment, as important as it seemed years ago, now seems, in the wake of recent discoveries, monumental in its import: the human mind can, in fact, control the physical world, can, in fact, transcend the "laws" of physics. This is now an established scientific fact. The work of the author and his renowned mentor, the late Dr. Ian Stevenson, strongly suggests that the mind (or 'soul') not only transcends minor laws of physics (wave-particle duality) but a major, awe-inspiring one as well: our souls able to return to mortal life in a new physical being.

The author, Dr. Tucker, not only conducts his research with an eye towards quantum physics but strictly follows scientific method as well. While the case histories of the children themselves may seem subjective, with much of it anecdotal evidence from the parents, Tucker is actually highly objective in his findings, relying on otherwise-inexplicable corroborating evidence from other, unrelated sources (often family and friends of deceased persons). The cases presented in the book are compelling and include the most famous American case, that of James Leininger, made famous by the book 'Soul Survivor' and subsequent filmed documentaries.

This is a subject that now deserves to be taken seriously. It is, of course, easy to scoff at the notion that our being, or soul, survives death of our physical body and that we are able to return to life in another body, but if you really look into the work of Tucker and - even more so - Ian Stevenson, you will see that there is no other explanation. This book, especially, explains the scientific bases for this finding as well as offering many compelling and dramatic case histories to illustrate the dearth of any alternate explanation of why these children have intimate knowledge of the lives of deceased people. An important book, in my opinion.

Don't let my emphasis on the science mislead you: the vast majority of the book deals with the truly extraordinary cases of these children, not science. My review is, I suppose, more of a defense of the legitimacy of the subject matter, as such a book will certainly be attacked by pseudo-intellectuals hell-bent on 'disproving' it. However, it's actually a thrilling and engrossing read and one you will not soon forget.

Just a dab will do. Covering the heart rate monitor contacts, that is. And there's probably a few THOUSAND dabs in this 250-gram (quarter of a KILO) tube. Trust me. Seriously, this is like a 5-year supply. It is perfectly clear and upon taking the HRM off, it soon evaporates from both your skin and the contacts. Great product, great value.

I work at home and drink coffee throughout the day. This is the best coffee maker I've used, for the following reasons:

1. The thermal carafe keeps the coffee hot/very warm for hours - as opposed to a regular glass carafe which basically 'cooks' the coffee for hours if left on or needs to be reheated if left off. This shuts off automatically after brewing is complete yet keeps the coffee fairly hot for at least 2 to 3 hours.

2. It has an excellent charcoal-based water filtration system, so tap water is fine to use: no need to use pre-filtered or bottled spring water.

3. High-quality, reusable filter which is easy to clean.

4. Controls over strength of brew and temperature, and the programmable clock timer, are all on the large, bright LCD display.

5. A brew pause control so that you don't have to wait for the 10-cup pot to finish brewing: just pause, pour your cup, continue brewing.

6. Very nice-looking brushed stainless appearance. It is rather large - almost 15 inches tall - but sleek-looking.

I'm very happy with this unit. The best part, for me at least, is the quality of the thermal carafe: to pour a cup two hours after the thing has turned off and still have the coffee acceptably warm at that point is great. Also, this is a well-built product, not a flimsy plastic one, so I expect it will last. I highly recommend this Frigidaire coffee maker.

Over 30 years after he left hockey, Bobby Orr finally tells his story. If you know anything about the man, it was no surprise that he refrained from writing about himself for so long: he is the polar opposite of today's arrogant, self-promoting athlete eager to tell the world how great he is (or thinks he is); a humble, classy guy if there ever was one. And though he has now relented - after DECADES of self-imposed obscurity and silence - to write this book, don't expect any salacious stories of the Big Bad Bruins off the ice or passages about Orr's great feats on the ice: this is a straight-forward account of Robert Gordon Orr's life, as written by himself, with his usual modesty and discretion.

Not that this makes for a boring, just-the-facts, life story: it is, in fact, an engaging and fluid read, and interesting as hell. Well, to ME this is incredibly interesting stuff; whether or not you are a hockey fan, a Bruins fan, and/or a Bobby Orr fan will obviously impact your level of interest. As a lifelong hockey/Bruins/Orr fan who was 9 when Orr scored the 1970 overtime goal and who lived in a seaside town in Boston Harbor where several Bruins players lived (Doug Roberts lived a few houses away from me and I met many of the Bruins - but NOT Orr), I obviously have a higher level of interest. But the book is, in fact, lively and entertaining throughout, even for the casual reader. To a fan, it is so much more: because Orr never talked or wrote about himself previously (his two books in the 1970s were about hockey, the game, not about him), we had only a vague notion of his history. An entire 309-page book about Bobby Orr's life? Thank you, God.

From his childhood in Parry Sound, Ontario, where he delighted in the game of hockey at age 5 onwards, to his incredible teen years in Juniors (he signed his first pro hockey contract at age 14 and the contract stipulated - believe it or not - that his parents' house be stuccoed), to his debut in Boston at the age of 18 (as the highest-paid player in NHL history before he played even one NHL game), through the glory years, the bad knees, and then life after hockey (he was only 30 when it all ended), there are stories that even an Orr fan will be surprised by.

Though this is a mostly upbeat life story, there was darkness, aside from the bad knees and early end of his career: his agent since his youth, Alan Eagleson, not only stole a great deal of money from Orr but also stole Orr's Boston legacy as well. Every true Bruins and Bobby Orr fan remembers the dark day in 1976 when Orr - the very heart of the Bruins - signed with Chicago because he felt Boston was insulting him with their low offer. What no one knew - including Bobby Orr himself - was that the Bruins wanted so desperately to keep him that they offered partial ownership of the franchise in addition to their money offer. Eagleson hid this fact from Orr. But for the sleaziness of Alan Eagleson, Bobby Orr would have been a Bruin to the end.

I highly recommend the book to fans and the casual reader alike: this is a sports legend - considered by many as the greatest hockey player of all time - who is a genuinely nice guy, humble and modest, and his life story should be required reading for all young phenoms on the verge of turning pro. Act like THIS guy, not like all the others.

As a book dealer and Top 500 Reviewer, I am offered advance copies on a daily basis and hardly ever accept them. I read what I want to read. However, in this case, I desperately sought out an advance copy and got one. The review would be exactly the same had I paid for a copy.

If you are not familiar with previous works of Matthew Inman (aka, TheOatmeal.com), you will like this collection of snarky comics just as much as fans: this is his best book yet. Those previous books were NY Times bestsellers for good reason: painfully-funny attacks on the absurdities of modern life by the budding Matt Groening of his generation (long before he created The Simpsons, I loved Groening's 'Life is Hell' comics: funny and inventive, as Inman is today).

This, his second collection of comics (others were books with a single theme), contains a barrage of funny attacks on the latest culture fads, our digital lives, and more. If you are unfamiliar with Inman, the cover comic of a bear is an anomaly for his work: it looks like a traditional comic panel. Most of his comics, however, actually look like a funny poster, with professional graphics and type, and cleanly-rendered minimalist characters. In fact, all of Inman's books come with one poster-size comic folded inside the back cover. Some of the favorite comics from this collection: "What your email address says about your computer skills" (hilarious chart with @gmail, @hotmail, etc.; look away if your address is @aol), "The Crap We Put Up with Getting On and Off an Airplane", "6 Things You Really Don't Need to Take a Photo of", and "How I interpret my beverage options on an airplane" (hint: he likes ginger ale).

Excellent collection, can't wait for the next one.

------------------------------Warning: The material is definitely for adults and is not for the easily-offended. One reviewer called it 'profane' and offensive and though I personally like that kind of material and don't find Inman gratuitously vulgar, you should know that this is R-rated material.